India mourns its Great Showman
Legendary actor Raj Kapoor died a month after receiving the Dada Saheb Phalke award
The great showman is no more. Raj Kapoor, 64, actor-director of legendary films like Awara, Shree 420, Jagte Raho and Barsaat, passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences at 9.20pm. Hospital sources said the cause of death was multisystem failure leading to cardiorespiratory arrest.
The end came after a 31-day battle which began on May 2 at the moment of Raj Kapoor’s greatest triumph — he was to receive the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the highest cinematic honour, from President R Venkataraman.
In a moving tribute to the showman, the President stepped down from the stage to present the award to the breathless Raj Kapoor, who developed sudden acute asthma. He was put on oxygen support at the Siri Fort Auditorium itself and rushed to ALLMS where his condition steadily deteriorated.
By late afternoon, Raj Kapoor’s condition suddenly deteriorated after he suffered an acute cardiac arrest and slipped into a coma. But he was revived with a pacemaker though his condition remained critical. He breathed his last at 9.20pm.
The body will be flown to Bombay by a special chartered flight of the Indian Airlines at around 3am tomorrow in accordance with the wishes of the family members. Union parliamentary affairs minister HKL Bhagat told reporters that the time of the cremation was yet undecided.
Other prominent people who came to pay their last respects included Motilal Vora, Narain Dutt Tiwan, Saroj Kharpade, cine actor Jitendra, his wife and several others.
The Kapoor clan, including Raj Kapoor’s wife Krishna, sons Randhir, Rishi and Rajiv, daughters Rima and Ritu, were at his bedside when he passed away. His brothers Shammi and Shashi were also present at the hospital.
The news of Raj Kapoor’s sudden heart attack and rumoured death at 3.30pm spread like wildfire all over the city and huge crowds gathered at ALLMS. Hospital authorities were forced to seek police reinforcements to maintain law and order and keep the crowds under control. The crowds vanished, however, after the rumours were denied but returned in strength when the news of his death was announced by Doordarshan in the 9.30pm bulletin. Some of the mourners were inconsolable and police had a hard time controlling the crowds which continued to swell long after midnight.
Speaking to reporters after condoling the bereaved family, HKL Bhagat said, “In Raj Kapoor’s going away the world has lost a great cinema figure and it has been India’s great loss. I was in Tashkent for the last three days and returned only yesterday, and be was talked about everywhere, in official functions, by citizens, on the streets. He had a place in the hearts of men and women not only in India but in most parts of the world and he will be remembered always. How many owe it to him for their growth and development.”
At a hurriedly summoned press conference, AIIMS director Dr Sneh Bhargava and additional medical superintendent Dr SK Verma denied reports that Raj Kapoor had died earlier and that the news had been suppressed. The institute also issued a detailed statement on the actor’s treatment during his monthlong battle from the failure to wean him off the respirator to the development of heart failure, severe jaundice and liver failure and deteriorating lung functions to this afternoon’s cardiac arrest.
The noted film director, Mrinal Sen, condoled the death of Raj Kapoor, describing him as an “architect of a new genre of Indian cinema”.